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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

The Michele Bachmann Plan

I am posting Michele Bachmann’s plan after Herman Cain’s because she was my first favorite GOP Candidate when this race for the GOP nomination began with a list of Candidates (otherwise it would have been Sarah Palin).

I love Michele Bachmann as a Candidate primarily because of Social Conservatism. Also Michele Bachmann is huge in the Tea Party Movement (TPM). Bachmann represents Tea Party Congressmen in the House as the leader of the Tea Party Caucus.

Michele Bachmann’s credentials as a Tea Party Conservative with Conservative Social Values are impeccable. The Bachmann campaign has thus emphasized the economics of job creation, less government and National budget plans (e.g. not raising the budget ceiling).

Hanover, NH – Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann announced today her blueprint for economic prosperity and job creation titled “American Jobs, Right Now.” With 9.1 percent unemployment, $16.7 trillion in national debt, and a severely weakened U.S. dollar, Bachmann is unveiling her vision for restoring confidence in the our financial system, spurring economic growth, and creating jobs for out of work Americans.

“It’s evident that the current trajectory of our country is simply not sustainable and President Obama lacks the understanding of how to return to a position of economic prominence in the world,” Bachmann said. “My blueprint will create an environment which will create real jobs here at home, and return America to a position of economic prominence in the world.”

Eleven Points of “American Jobs, Right Now” Blueprint:

1.REPATRIATION. More than 1.2 trillion United States dollars could be brought back to America in days as an immediate “stimulus” if the government would zero out the tax rate on that money until December 31, and then permanently keep it here in the U.S. if taxed at a rate of 5 percent. Foreign earning totaling over $1.2 trillion is more than the President’s failed stimulus and it won’t come out of taxpayer wallets. It would increase the value of the dollar, provide valuable capital for the job creators in this country and pump tremendous amounts of money into our economy.

2.CUT SPENDING AND GOVERNMENT. I have already voted to cut federal spending in the years ahead, every single time I have had the opportunity. In addition, I would phase out quasi-governmental enterprises, such as Fannie and Freddie, and eliminate duplicative government programs and costs. We must decrease government salaries to bring them in line with their private sector counterparts, and we must decrease the number of government employees. Over-spending by the government hurts job creation by devaluing the dollar and stealing capital from the private sector.

3.REPEAL OBAMACARE. Healthcare is one-sixth of the U.S. economy and this unconstitutional takeover of healthcare by the federal government is creating crippling uncertainty for employers across this country. This legislation does nothing to address the true problem with our healthcare system – cost – and will cost states trillions. I believe it is an intentional backstop to imploding healthcare entitlement programs — Medicare and Medicaid — to transition toward a single payer-system. This is the number one hindrance to job creation in the United States (according to a recently released UBS study).

4.CUT TAXES. I’ve demonstrated a firm commitment to cutting spending and balancing the budget. We need to reduce the number of tax brackets, repeal taxes outlined in Obamacare, fix the Alternative Minimum Tax, and eliminate the Death Tax. In addition, we must make the corporate tax code simpler and fairer, and allow U.S. companies that generate earnings overseas to bring back those profits and invest them in American jobs and growth.

5.REPEAL THE JOBS AND HOUSING DESTRUCTION ACT, ALSO KNOWN AS DODD-FRANK. This law tightened regulations on banks, made it harder for Americans to obtain credit, and failed to address the systemic problem that caused the Wall Street collapse — leverage. This 849-page bill calls for 400 new sets of rules that will be written on 6000 Federal Register pages, all written by bureaucrats, many of whom have never worked in the financial services field. The law also creates a potentially intrusive Financial Services Consumer Protection Bureau that is not accountable to Congress and which has but a vague mandate to combat misconduct – so in the wrong hands, it could cause its own kind of misconduct.

6.LEGALIZE AMERICAN ENERGY PRODUCTION AND AMERICA’S NATURAL RESOURCES. This could create 1.4 million jobs, bringing $800 billion of new revenue into the U.S. Treasury, and increasing domestic energy supplies by 50 percent. The price of energy has a direct impact on nearly ever[y] facet of our lives. We have to abandon the parochial and political energy policies of the past and install a comprehensive energy plan that not only reduces our reliance on unfriendly foreign regimes, but also creates millions of American jobs and generates increased tax revenues. According to the Congressional Research Service, the U.S. has more energy potential than any other country in the world. We should use that potential. It is a better policy to create American jobs and explore in an environmentally-sound way, than to rely on foreign dictators who give little regard to the environment. This includes specific strategies like reviving the logging, timber, mining and metals industries, and bringing federal lands back into productive activity by repealing radical environmental laws that kill access to natural resources.

7.REPEAL JOB KILLING REGULATIONS. America’s job creators and small business owners have lost economic liberty under the weight of $1.8 billion annually in compliance costs with government regulations. Together we sent $2.2 trillion in taxes to the federal government this year. By comparison, job creators spend nearly as much annually to comply with bureaucratic mandates. Obamacare, Dodd-Frank, and the string of mandates and rules from the Environmental Protection Agency — as well as other agencies — are creating such incredible uncertainty in the market. The House Republican leadership has identified 219 planned Obama administration regulations, each of which will cost the economy more than $100 million. This red tape rampage must stop.

8.INCREASE EXPORTS. This President has been holding hostage trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea as he tries to negotiate favor for Big Labor. The world needs to know that we are open for business and U.S. Companies need to expand beyond our borders to the 95 percent of people who do not live here.

9.UNLEASH AMERICAN INVESTMENT. By eliminating unnecessary taxes and regulation, and expanding trade, we will create an incentive for investment in America again. We must do whatever it takes to restore our ability to manufacture here in the U.S. We can do this by reforming the tax code, providing incentive for growth, and allowing the private sector to control the market with little government involvement.

10.PAVE A PATHWAY FOR INNOVATION. Recent reports indicated that the United States has now slipped to 5th in the competitiveness rankings, and 47th in education. How do we expect to lead the world economically when we are not doing what is needed to inspire and foster innovation here at home? The future of the American economy lies with the innovation of this and future generations.

11.ENFORCE AMERICAN IMMIGRATION LAWS. The failure of the federal government to enforce its immigration laws costs federal, state and local governments billions of dollars annually. Our nation was founded on the rule of law, and we must ensure U.S. immigration laws are respected and enforced not only to preserve our national security, but to protect federal, state, and local budgets, and to curb the unfair strain on our country’s job markets.

“My solutions are simple. We need to cut government spending, legalize America’s God-given natural resources, and stop taxing investment and productivity,” Bachmann said. “In other words, we need to do what growing economies do.”

Everything about Bachmann’s plan to right America is very Tea Party; however it is lacking in detail. The eleven points are good ideas but there is not an actual blue print to implement the plan. I think the lack of detail compared to Herman Cain’s 9-9-9 plan has lost her support among lower economic scale GOP voters because Republicans like the ability to read something concrete to counter Obama’s big government socializing counter-American Heritage transformation of Change. The lower Middle Class GOP voters represent the largest bloc of Republican voters.

It is very surprising that Michele Bachmann does not have a comparable tax plan to Herman Cain and now Rick Perry and Mitt Romney’s 59 points. My surprise is because part of Bachmann’s credentials to run for President is her experience as a tax lawyer.

Here is an excerpt on Michele Bachmann’s stand on taxation taken from a somewhat favorable website:

Summary

Congresswoman Bachmann consistently supports lower taxes for all areas, and has stated that taxes are simply too high. She was a strong supporter for extending the Bush tax cuts, and has repeatedly called for ending the death tax, the AMT, and removing the tax on capital gains.

Congresswoman Bachmann has proposed the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to put her views on taxes on the record. This bill of rights includes the rights to expect the government to balance the budget without having their taxes raised, and the right to a simple, fair tax code that they can understand.

In addition to calling for a simplification of the tax code, Congresswoman Bachmann has called for an end to the death tax. She stated that the tax was inefficient, a job killer, and discouraged saving.

In keeping with the idea of ending some taxes and simplifying the overall tax code, Congresswoman Bachman has proposed the Taxpayer Choice Act. This legislation would end the AMT, make the Bush tax rates on capital gains and dividends permanent, and create a voluntary Simplified Tax that would give individuals the option of paying under a highly simplified income tax system or under the regular income tax as it is structured now.

During the 2010 debate over extending the Bush tax cuts, Congresswoman Bachmann noted that higher tax rates do not mean higher tax revenues. She stated that higher rates or the uncertainty of a temporary extension would hamper economic growth.

Although she has not proposed a specific tax plan, Congresswoman Bachmann has outlined steps she would take if elected President. The steps proposed included numerous tax measures, including:

Recently Bachmann has made statements concerning a tax overhaul; however her statements have the picture of what she wants to do as President and is lacking the actual plan for Republicans to get excited about.

Bachmann has recently said she would return the country to a Reagan-era tax code. Tonight Bachmann seemed to say something slightly different. “I will abolish the United States federal tax code and have a flatter, simpler, fairer income tax,” she said. (Last Paragraph of Bachmann @ IFFC speaks of “flatter, simpler, fairer income tax”; by O. Kay Henderson; 10/22/11)

I have not been able to find anything concrete as to what Bachmann means by a “flatter, simple, fairer income tax”. As much as I like Michele Bachmann if she does not come up with a blue print to match her “flatter, simpler, fairer income tax” she will be left behind GOP Candidates who do have a concrete plan. So far the only Candidate with a concrete plan that I like is Herman Cain.